As hurricane season nears peak, see $2.5 billion worth of protection

Updated on Aug 08, 2017 at 02:36 PM CDT

As part of its hurricane preparedness efforts, the corps of engineers closed the sector gates and fired up four of the eleven pumps at the West Closure Complex in Belle Chasse, LA on Thursday, April 30, 2015. Built in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the $1.1 billion complex is designed to block a 100-year storm surge from entering the Harvey and Algiers canals and threatening thousands of structures on the West Bank.(Photo by Julia Kumari Drapkin, Nola.com | The Times-Picayune)

As part of its hurricane preparedness efforts, the corps of engineers closed the sector gates and fired up four of the eleven pumps at the West Closure Complex in Belle Chasse, LA on Thursday, April 30, 2015. Built in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the $1.1 billion complex is designed to block a 100-year storm from entering the Harvey and Algiers canals and threatening thousands of structures on the West Bank.(Photo by Julia Kumari Drapkin, Nola.com | The Times-Picayune)

As part of its hurricane preparedness efforts, the corps of engineers closed the sector gates and fired up four of the eleven pumps at the West Closure Complex in Belle Chasse, LA on Thursday, April 30, 2015. Built in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the $1.1 billion complex is designed to block a 100-year storm surge from entering the Harvey and Algiers canals and threatening thousands of structures on the West Bank.(Photo by Julia Kumari Drapkin, Nola.com | The Times-Picayune)

As part of its hurricane preparedness efforts, the corps of engineers closed the sector gates and fired up four of the eleven pumps at the West Closure Complex in Belle Chasse, LA on Thursday, April 30, 2015. Built in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the $1.1 billion complex is designed to block a 100-year storm from entering the Harvey and Algiers canals and threatening thousands of structures on the West Bank.(Photo by Julia Kumari Drapkin, Nola.com | The Times-Picayune)

As part of its hurricane preparedness efforts, the corps of engineers closed the sector gates and fired up four of the eleven pumps at the West Closure Complex in Belle Chasse, LA on Thursday, April 30, 2015. Built in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the $1.1 billion complex is designed to block a 100-year storm surge from entering the Harvey and Algiers canals and threatening thousands of structures on the West Bank.(Photo by Julia Kumari Drapkin, Nola.com | The Times-Picayune)

As part of its hurricane preparedness efforts, the corps of engineers closed the sector gates and fired up four of the eleven pumps at the West Closure Complex in Belle Chasse, LA on Thursday, April 30, 2015. Built in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the $1.1 billion complex is designed to block a 100-year storm surge from entering the Harvey and Algiers canals and threatening thousands of structures on the West Bank.(Photo by Julia Kumari Drapkin, Nola.com | The Times-Picayune)

As part of its hurricane preparedness efforts, the corps of engineers closed the sector gates and fired up four of the eleven pumps at the West Closure Complex in Belle Chasse, LA on Thursday, April 30, 2015. Built in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the $1.1 billion complex is designed to block a 100-year storm surge from entering the Harvey and Algiers canals and threatening thousands of structures on the West Bank.(Photo by Julia Kumari Drapkin, Nola.com | The Times-Picayune)

As part of its hurricane preparedness efforts, the corps of engineers closed the sector gates and fired up four of the eleven pumps at the West Closure Complex in Belle Chasse, LA on Thursday, April 30, 2015. Built in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the $1.1 billion complex is designed to block a 100-year storm surge from entering the Harvey and Algiers canals and threatening thousands of structures on the West Bank.(Photo by Julia Kumari Drapkin, Nola.com | The Times-Picayune)

As part of its hurricane preparedness efforts, the corps of engineers closed the sector gates and fired up four of the eleven pumps at the West Closure Complex in Belle Chasse, LA on Thursday, April 30, 2015. Built in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the $1.1 billion complex is designed to block a 100-year storm surge from entering the Harvey and Algiers canals and threatening thousands of structures on the West Bank.(Photo by Julia Kumari Drapkin, Nola.com | The Times-Picayune)

As part of its hurricane preparedness efforts, the corps of engineers closed the sector gates and fired up four of the eleven pumps at the West Closure Complex in Belle Chasse, LA on Thursday, April 30, 2015. Built in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the $1.1 billion complex is designed to block a 100-year storm surge from entering the Harvey and Algiers canals and threatening thousands of structures on the West Bank.(Photo by Julia Kumari Drapkin, Nola.com | The Times-Picayune)

As part of its hurricane preparedness efforts, the corps of engineers closed the sector gates and fired up four of the eleven pumps at the West Closure Complex in Belle Chasse, LA on Thursday, April 30, 2015. Built in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the $1.1 billion complex is designed to block a 100-year storm surge from entering the Harvey and Algiers canals and threatening thousands of structures on the West Bank.(Photo by Julia Kumari Drapkin, Nola.com | The Times-Picayune)

As part of its hurricane preparedness efforts, the corps of engineers closed the sector gates and fired up four of the eleven pumps at the West Closure Complex in Belle Chasse, LA on Thursday, April 30, 2015. Built in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the $1.1 billion complex is designed to block a 100-year storm surge from entering the Harvey and Algiers canals and threatening thousands of structures on the West Bank.(Photo by Julia Kumari Drapkin, Nola.com | The Times-Picayune)

As part of its hurricane preparedness efforts, the corps of engineers closed the sector gates and fired up four of the eleven pumps at the West Closure Complex in Belle Chasse, LA on Thursday, April 30, 2015. Built in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the $1.1 billion complex is designed to block a 100-year storm surge from entering the Harvey and Algiers canals and threatening thousands of structures on the West Bank.(Photo by Julia Kumari Drapkin, Nola.com | The Times-Picayune)

As part of its hurricane preparedness efforts, the corps of engineers closed the sector gates and fired up four of the eleven pumps at the West Closure Complex in Belle Chasse, LA on Thursday, April 30, 2015. Built in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the $1.1 billion complex is designed to block a 100-year storm surge from entering the Harvey and Algiers canals and threatening thousands of structures on the West Bank.(Photo by Julia Kumari Drapkin, Nola.com | The Times-Picayune)

The
West Closure Complex
-- Giant gates at the confluence of the
Harvey
and
Algiers
canals are designed to close in case of a hurricane, sealing Algiers, much of West Jefferson and a section of
Plaquemines Parish
against surge moving north from the
Gulf of Mexico
through Barataria Bay. At the same time, the world's largest pump station would move
West Bank
rain runoff -- at a rate of up to one Olympic-size swimming pool every four seconds -- from the protected side of the canals into the marshes to the south. The project cost $1.2 billion.